Valentine’s Day is here on The Stoppage Time and we have a heart-stopping live blog on the way, live and direct from Le Parc des Princes, the home of Unai Emery’s Paris Saint-Germain Football Club. It’s all hands on deck for one of France’s finest football club teams as they take on Luis Enrique’s Football Club Barcelona and Lionel Messi in the first leg of the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

PSG’s captain, Thiago Silva, will look to put on a strong showing against a side that has won the Champions League five times in their long storied history.

“The captain’s role doesn’t start and finish on the pitch,” said Silva. “It’s also a tough job off the field. Every player is different. You have to know how to speak to them as men. The way you speak to Presnel Kimpembe is not the same way you speak to Serge Aurier. Each individual receives messages differently. You need to be smart enough to understand the player, know how to address him when we have conceded a goal.

“There’s no point looking for someone to blame, of shouting: ‘It’s your fault!’ The captain’s role is very difficult but also very rewarding. At Paris Saint-Germain, the captain is the leader of a team with great players, big personalities. To take the team to the very top, you have show patience, confidence and calm.”

“We will give everything to reach our objective and we’ll see where we are at the end of the season,” said Julian Draxler. “The team won four titles last season. It’s not easy to repeat that, but it would be fantastic if we can do it! We have a lot of important matches coming up. I am very happy with how these first weeks have gone, but the future is the most important thing.”

Our live blog starts at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET. Kickoff is at 11:45 a.m. PT/2:45 p.m. ET. Keep it right here on The Stoppage Time, powered by Azteca Soccer, for more world football news. Stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and subscribe to our YouTube page.

Jo-Ryan Salazar is a writer for The Stoppage Time, a soccer blog powered by Azteca Soccer. A supporter of the Los Angeles Galaxy since 1996 and a committed supporter since 2002, Jo-Ryan also follows Chelsea FC, Melbourne Victory, FC Tokyo and Paris Saint-Germain. Apart from soccer, Jo-Ryan is an administrative assistant for a local nonprofit in Long Beach, California and also does photography, photo-editing and fictional writing.